Cold AM Battery Preconditioning Trend, Job 2, plugged in overnight -1F

[Nklem]

Sorry about the loss of data full data. I had hoped to capture the full precondition but My IPad went out during the trending just before the cabin preheat portion occurred. It was cold in the car and the IPad battery did not last.

But it did capture most of the battery warm up using the departure settings. Scheduled for a 7:30 am departure and set up at around 6:45 AM.

It started warming the battery immediately and then at around 7:10 AM switched to cabin preheating. I had no idea that “preparing for the drive” on FP is battery heating and “cabin preconditioning In process” was interior heating. It is two stages.

The car was plugged in overnight so the battery heating came on twice last evening at 2F (11 PM) and 0F (4:30 AM) and when preconditioning started. I did not trend that.

It looks like 0C to 5C is the preferred battery temp it tries to reach or maintain.

Tonight I may wrap the iPad in a towel with another battery to see if it can record overnight for a while although temps are supposed to get warmer.

Enjoy

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[Nklem]

Also after I started for work, I connected the MMB and recorded battery temps for the 15 minute drive here they are. It looks like the HVB temp was about 2C the whole way after preheating.

 

[oliverames]

The car was plugged in overnight so the battery heating came on twice last evening at 2F (11 PM) and 0F (4:30 AM) and when preconditioning started. I did not trend that.

Do you have a charge schedule set for this time? I'm very curious to know if the car keeps the battery warm during the period of time it is told not to charge. No departure times set in this example. Basically, I want to set a charge schedule for lower energy costs, but don't want to keep the car from pulling power to keep the battery warm if it needs to. Is that something you could test?

 

[Nklem]

Do you have a charge schedule set for this time? I'm very curious to know if the car keeps the battery warm during the period of time it is told not to charge. No departure times set in this example. Basically, I want to set a charge schedule for lower energy costs, but don't want to keep the car from pulling power to keep the battery warm if it needs to. Is that something you could test?

I told it not to charge. That’s why the 50% setting. I charge at work for free during the day. It did keep it warm. Those are the spikes on the chart. So even with no charging, it comes on and keeps it toasty, sucking down 28 miles of range.

The only way to keep the battery from conditioning overnight, while the car is plugged in, would be to schedule a charge time/schedule from your non ford charger, like ChargePoint or Juicebox. And you car will not charge either during that schedule.

It only conditions the battery when the ambient is around 10F and below.

 

[oliverames]

I told it not to charge. That’s why the 50% setting. I charge at work for free during the day. It did keep it warm. Those are the spikes on the chart. So even with no charging, it comes on and keeps it toasty, sucking down 28 miles of range.

I see, so you set it to charge to 50% and it had reached that charge level. Did you have a preferred charge time set or was that toggled to "Anytime"

 

[oliverames]

This, for example. I have also seen the car pull power to keep the pack warm even when it has reached the charge level of 80%. I have also gotten in and seen the car at 78%.

What I'm wondering specifically is if I changed "Anytime" to a certain window, would it still pull power to keep the pack warm even outside the charge window?

 

[Nklem]

I see, so you set it to charge to 50% and it had reached that charge level. Did you have a preferred charge time set or was that toggled to "Anytime"

Anytime.

 

[Nklem]

This, for example. I have also seen the car pull power to keep the pack warm even when it has reached the charge level of 80%. I have also gotten in and seen the car at 78%.

What I'm wondering specifically is if I changed "Anytime" to a certain window, would it still pull power to keep the pack warm even outside the charge window?

My guess is yes but I really have no idea. Maybe someone else can chime in. Do you want me to test it? All I will do is enable a few hour charge window on a cold night (with still a 50% charge level) and see if it preconditions at random or during that time slot.

Unfortunately it’s going to be in the 20’s tonight, rain tomorrow and warmer the rest of the week so My next “cold” opportunity may be Saturday night.

Let me know and I will attempt the test

 

[Motomax]

What I'm wondering specifically is if I changed "Anytime" to a certain window, would it still pull power to keep the pack warm even outside the charge window?

As long as your EVSE doesn’t have a schedule the vehicle will draw power whenever it sees fit. The charge window is just for charging not for maintaining the vehicle.

 

[oliverames]

My guess is yes but I really have no idea. Maybe someone else can chime in. Do you want me to test it? All I will do is enable a few hour charge window on a cold night (with still a 50% charge level) and see if it preconditions at random or during that time slot.

Unfortunately it’s going to be in the 20’s tonight, rain tomorrow and warmer the rest of the week so My next “cold” opportunity may be Saturday night.

Let me know and I will attempt the test

I would really appreciate it if you could test it @Nklem! I think this is the question, just in case I wasn't clear. This is all so confusing. Would love a document from @ford.

50% charge level, set to not charge at night (on the car side, not the charger side) with temps below -10F, will the car pull power to keep the battery warm anyway? If it doesn't pull power, is it using the stored energy in the battery to keep itself warm?

 

[oliverames]

As long as your EVSE doesn’t have a schedule the vehicle will draw power whenever it sees fit. The charge window is just for charging not for maintaining the vehicle.

Very interesting. Did you have a source?

 

[Accord07]

This, for example. I have also seen the car pull power to keep the pack warm even when it has reached the charge level of 80%. I have also gotten in and seen the car at 78%.

Starting to see 78% SOC when charging level is set to 80% could simply be the result of a warmer battery leading to a higher expected capacity at 100%. My car stays in the garage overnight, from time to time I saw SOC 1% below the charging level I set when I get into the car in the morning. I always shrugged it off as a rounding error, until this past weekend when I realized it was due to a warming battery. Saturday night we stayed in a hotel where the temperature dropped all the way to 0F outside; the car was plugged into a 30A EVSE. I set a departure time to precondition and to warm up the cabin. After preconditioning was completed the displayed SOC dropped by 3%, relative to the level right when preconditioning started. That got me thinking that it wasn't a rounding error after all, but rather because the "100%" point of reference had gone up. Later that day I parked next to a ChargePoint charger, from which the car pulled 30A @ 241V. In 3 hours 20 minutes HVB temperature reading decreased slowly from 1C to -3C; before departure preconditioning warmed it up to 12C - I watched during the process, and saw HVB current changed from -17.6A (before the heater was engaged to warm up the battery pack) immediately to around -2A, suggesting the heater took about 90% of the power provided by the EVSE. Even though that suggested a charging rate of under 800W (even lower than the normal charging rate on 120V at 12A), the Energy to Empty counter rose at a much faster clip suggesting a charging rate of 16.6kW. It was all an illusion due to the battery being warmed up. While this was happening the displayed SOC actually declined, suggesting the expected "100%" point of reference had gone up even faster.

After warming up the battery, the car started warming up the cabin. It used less energy for heating and left more for charging but the car barely gained any charge, because the boost from warming the battery was no longer there.

I have used up all 500 kWh of EA credit just 50 days after taking delivery of my MME. Most of these charging sessions occurred in frigid weather, and the predicted range when I hit the road right afterward had always been overly optimistic; I have to leave plenty of margin for corrections so that I am not forced to make unexpected charging stops, and now I know why. Otherwise the so-called GOM others love to hate has been reasonably close for my driving.

 

[Twilloo]

My guess is yes but I really have no idea. Maybe someone else can chime in. Do you want me to test it? All I will do is enable a few hour charge window on a cold night (with still a 50% charge level) and see if it preconditions at random or during that time slot.

Unfortunately it’s going to be in the 20’s tonight, rain tomorrow and warmer the rest of the week so My next “cold” opportunity may be Saturday night.

Let me know and I will attempt the test

Any one know if you schedule a departure time when you are not plugged in, will in still condition your battery

 

[oliverames]

Any one know if you schedule a departure time when you are not plugged in, will in still condition your battery

There is an option for that in the car's battery settings.

 

[Nklem]

My guess is yes but I really have no idea. Maybe someone else can chime in. Do you want me to test it? All I will do is enable a few hour charge window on a cold night (with still a 50% charge level) and see if it preconditions at random or during that time slot.

Unfortunately it’s going to be in the 20’s tonight, rain tomorrow and warmer the rest of the week so My next “cold” opportunity may be Saturday night.

Let me know and I will attempt the test

I tested last night for you. The battery heating occurred between 3:00 AM and 4 AM.

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